Life, Death, and Magic
by ZebraFeet
Summary: This is a crossover of SAO and Howl's Moving Castle. It will be a multichapter fic, and there will be SophiexKirito! Sophie ends up in Howl's castle, and changes the door setting to black. She enters, and it leads to Aincrad. Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or Howl's Moving Castle.


**A/N: Hello, friends! I decided to make a collaboration of my favorite anime movie and my favorite anime series. I hose being Howl's Moving Castle and Sword Art Online. This may be a little bit nerveracking for those who ship Howphie and Kirisuna, for neither of those ships will take place. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Howl's Moving Castle or Sword Art Online.**

It took me a while to find out exactly why there was an enormous castle _walking_ across the hills of Ingary. I could spot it through the fog at about this time of day, slowly making its way over the hills and through the area, probably heading toward Kingsbury. It was about noon in the town of Market Chipping, and business was buzzing in my family's hat shop. We owned the only hat shop in Market Chipping, so we made a decent living from providing posh hats for the rich, and simple hats for the middle-class. And that's what we were. Middle-class. There were people both above and below us, money-wise.

I lived on the upper floor of our hat shop, having a simple routine, such as rising out of bed in the morning, sewing decorations onto new hat designs, manning the cash register until sundown, and then settling down for bed. My family looked down on that routine, because they believed that I should be going out to dance, and that I should accept a marriage proposal from one of my suitors, so that I can start a family instead of being "so alone," as my sister Lettie says.

I visited Lettie three days prior, and had a most unusual experience.

Wizard Howl, owner of the humongous, lethargic moving castle, came into my path and cast a spell on me. This particular spellforced me to float high above Market Chipping's clock tower, the tallest building within the town. Howl safely guided me onto the balcony of Cesari's Pastries, Lettie's workplace. After having some citizens witness my landing, I was soon flooded with warnings and cautionary tales of Howl as the evil antagonist who kills beautiful young women with a passion.

I never completely believed all of those rumors, because the only real way to discover the truth is from firsthand experience.

Three days later, I still hadn't come to a conclusion about whether or not Howl was evil. I just decided that it didn't matter, because I would most likely not see him again in person.

My youngest sister, Martha, had requested a torquoise silk hat with a wide brim, embellished with cream colored lace and pearls. She was the apprentice to a witch in the rural fields of Ingary, quite a ways from Market Chipping. Further than any farmer or merchant would travel for business. About a days worth of walking ahead of me, not including the elaborate hitchhiking that I had to plan out, I decided that a long night of rest would be a responsible decision.

I woke in response to the sun shining through my window to form a crimson red shade behind my eyelids. I sat up and immediately recalled my plans for the long journey that was soon to take place. After packing some food and a blanket, I headed out among the streets of Market Chipping. I was making my way toward my cousin Arthur's house. He would soon be heading north for business, and that was the direction that I needed to go. I walked across the bridge that connected the two sides of town, and almost was swallowed by the black smoke that billowed up from the passing train below.

Upon my arrival to Arthur's, I acknowledged his presence as he loaded his trailer with various things he required to travel such a long distance. He smiled in a kind manner and waved at me as I did the same in response. He was always so kind to me. We were the best of friends when we were younger, and playing in the fields behind his house was our favorite activity to do. We still helped each other out when needed, but we didn't see each other nearly as much as we used to.

I hauled myself onto the back of Arthur's trailer while holding Martha's mauve hatbox in my arms. I was forced to hold onto the side of the wooden trailer as we departed on the bumpy road. The retreating town shrunk into the distance, and soon, all that I saw were the purple mountains in the background.

I dozed off on the back of the trailer, and woke up to Arthur shaking my shoulder and kindly repeating my name. I opened my eyes and slowly adjusted myself to the afternoon sun. It was difficult for me to believe that I slept for _that long_, but I was convinced when Arthur told me that the ride was about five hours long.

We had arrived at the small cottage where Arthur was staying for the night, and I saw him being welcomed by a petite pregnant woman with auburn hair in a long braid and wearing a rose-colored sundress that came down to her knees. She smiled and waved at me, after being given an explanation for my presence by Arthur.

Skillfully balancing the hatbox in my arms, I lifted myself off of the old wooden trailer and into the wet, green grass below. I bid farewell to Arthur and Blossom, the pregnant woman, and began to walk north, toward Martha. Clouds quickly gathered overhead, and light drops of rain began to fall onto my hat and dress. A slight relief in the warm summer weather.

About half of an hour into my hike, I had grown tired of the pesky rain, which had begun to fall harder and more quickly. I was desperately trying to protect Martha's hatbox under my dress, when I heard the extremely loud creaking and churning of metal. Cupping my free hand over my eyes, I looked in the direction of the disturbing sound. Slowly but surely, Howl's castle began to make its way over the distant hill so that I could then see it clearly. It came in my direction, and as it approached me I grabbed onto a railing and swung myself onto a ledge attached to the large structure. Miraculously, I still kept the hatbox in arm and safe from the multiple mud puddles passing below. After fumbling with the doorknob for a while, I wrenched open the door and stepped into one of the rooms in the lower half of the castle. It had a warm hearth and welcoming flame, and I slid into one of the chairs, exhausted from the excessively long walk and ready to fall asleep.

I had almost dozed off, when I was startled by a voice coming from directly in front of me. I glanced at the flame, and was confused to find out that it contained a pair of curious eyes and a mouth, drawn up on one side in concentration. While attempting to make sense of it all I heard him ( I assumed it was a male, based on his voice ) say one word.

"Hello."

**A/N: Done with chapter one! Thank you so much for reading! Don't feel like you have been lied to because I have not mentioned SAO yet, because THAT IS COMING. I will not tell you how, but you can be sure that it is. I believe that this is most likely the best thing I have written so far, and I really appreciate that you actually read it! So, I have a deal for you. If you review, I continue the story. Just remember that if you _do_ review, please keep it constructive, and don't just make it discouraging. You guys are awesome! Bye!**


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